Unsung Heroes in Scripture: Barnabas

Unsung Heroes in Scripture: Barnabas.

“The Lord made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He hid me. And He made me as a polished arrow; in His quiver He concealed me.” (Isaiah 49:2).

There are so many characters in the Bible that have been hidden from us who read the Word. So many unsung heroes who have been destined to be underappreciated and overlooked. Like Ananias, they have a pivotal role in a limited event and then they disappear from us. Like Abigail, they are often celebrated by one group of believers and completely ignored by another group of believers. Like Barnabas, they might be overshadowed by a strong, more compelling personality. Like Cornelius, they might have set the stage but were not the main event. Like Bezalel, they might be supremely gifted for one particularly crucial task, after which their usefulness seems to end. Like Shiphrah and Puah, they might rise heroically to the challenge of becoming human saviors but then humbly point to the person that they saved. Like Caleb, they might have their moments of profound faith and courage and then seem to be written right out of the script. The Scripture is full of unsung heroes, relative unknowns, hidden in God’s quiver. These polished arrows are actually more numerous and often more significant than the heroes who are more commonly sung by the faithful. After all, where would the skyscrapers be were it not for the hidden pillars of support?

“And there was Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas, which means ‘son of encouragement, or comfort, or the advocate’ (‘paraclete’). He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus… He was a good (‘agathos’) man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. He encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord.” (Acts 4:36, 11:23-24).

Paraclete. Barnabas was called a paraclete by the apostles, which is the Greek term meaning “called to come alongside of.” The paraclete was Jesus’ descriptive name He gave to the Holy Spirit (in John 14 and 16). It is a rich word that has many practical dimensions, including to encourage, to advocate for, to comfort, to exhort. All believers are called to be little paracletes. Barnabas was an inspiring example of the little paraclete, one who comes alongside someone as a true companion, a spiritual friend, a helper who fleshes out the ministry of the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus called the paraclete. Barnabas was known as one who engaged in a powerful ministry of personal presence in the spirit of burden-bearing, a helping style of loving and competent influence, guiding others to the truth. Even though many versions of the Bible called him ‘a son of encouragement,’ he could just as well have been nicknamed the son of comfort, of exhortation, of consolation, of guidance, of advocacy. We are all called to be like Barnabas, little paracletes. As St. Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:11, “Let us be paracletes to each other.” We are each called to come alongside one another to help fellow believers, and everyone else, in need. We are each called to put the Spirit of Jesus into practice and demonstrate the very character and ministry of Christ.

Agathos.  This Greek term refers to someone who is intrinsically good, virtuous, who had the moral and spiritual goodness that reflects God’s character. Barnabas could be called a man after God’s own heart.

An Early Follower of Jesus. Barnabas was a leading Christ-follower right from the beginning. In fact, he was one of the 70 disciples hand-picked and sent out by Jesus midway through His three-year ministry, to heal, cast out demons, prepare the area villages for Christ’s ministry, and basically represent Him in all the neighboring towns and villages. “The Lord now chose seventy (or seventy-two) other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places He planned to visit… When the seventy disciples returned, they joyfully reported to Him, ‘Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!” (Luke 10:1-21). Jesus personally selected seventy followers of His who were not a part of His original twelve. These believers have been with Him long enough to be familiar with His teachings, His mission, His ways of doing things. They have heard His parables, witnessed His miracles, and observed Him as He ministered for a year and a half to everyone from the religious elite to the religious outcasts. These seventy were sent in pairs to cities around Judea, no doubt, and they were in many ways like babes in the woods. He even said He was sending them out like lambs in the midst of wolves. These seventy disciples were somewhat prepared, but they were not mature old saints by any means. Evidently, Jesus had confidence in them to be useful to the Kingdom. One doesn’t have to be perfectly wise and experienced to be used by the Lord. Jesus wanted these disciples to learn by experience. All seventy names in the traditional list of names, including Barnabas, have been declared saints by the Orthodox Church.

A Pivotal Figure in the Spread of the Kingdom. One wonders what would have happened to the burgeoning Way of Jesus if Barnabas had not been present. He was central to the story of the early church, and is mentioned in the book of Acts 23 times, and noted by Paul in his epistles at least five times.

1. He was one of the first believers in Jerusalem who generously sold his property and gave all the proceeds to the apostles for the needs of the Christian community (Acts 4:37).
2. He and he alone introduced the newly-converted Paul to the apostles and advocated for Paul to be accepted into their fellowship, when they seriously doubted if they could trust Paul’s conversion experience (Acts 9:27).
3. He was sent by the apostles to a fast-growing church in Antioch to lead the new believers there and disciple them more deeply in the Faith (Acts 11:24).
4. He took Paul with him to help him lead this new church in Antioch soon after Paul had to flee for his life, and they remained as co-pastors there in Antioch for a full year. Under their leadership, it was in Antioch where followers of Jesus were first called ‘Christians’ (Acts 11:25-26). Could it be that this new descriptive term for believers was inspired by Barnabas and Paul being so Christ-like in their ministry to them?
5. During a desperate famine in Jerusalem, Barnabas and Paul were entrusted with delivering food and money from the Antioch church to the believers in Jerusalem (Acts 11:27-30).
6. Barnabas and Paul were specially selected by the apostles through the Holy Spirit to engage in the historic First Missionary Journey. They basically duplicated Christ’s ministry as they traveled: healing, casting out demons, working miracles, and spreading the Good News of Jesus. The journey took them about 10 months to a year, 47-48 AD, and they traveled to Cyprus and then Asia minor, mostly speaking in Jewish synagogues (Acts 13-14).
7. During this time, Barnabas was a valuable mentor to Paul right when Paul needed it most. Barnabas was the elder, the senior leader during Paul’s early ministry. In other words, Barnabas was a paraclete to Paul. Barnabas soon became a mentor, a paraclete to his nephew Mark as well. The spirit of Barnabas was that of a spiritual friend who came alongside someone as a practical helper, spiritual mentor and guiding elder.

A Disappearing Act. At this point, in Acts 15 after the first missionary journey, Barnabas disappears. He took Mark with him to Cyprus for a second missionary journey, while Paul split from Barnabas and took Silas on his own missionary journey to Syria. There was definitely a conflict between Barnabas and Paul regarding Mark’s involvement, but from all appearances, they reconciled later on.

Martyrdom.   At the age of 60, Barnabas was stoned to death on his home island of Cyprus. He evidently was holding a copy of Matthew’s Gospel at the time of his death, a copy that he had written himself.

Unsung Hero. Why?  At the start of their ministry together, they were known as Barnabas and Paul. After some time passed, the pair were known as Paul and Barnabas. Did Barnabas live under the shadow of Paul after a while? Did Paul have a more compelling or powerful personality than Barnabas and soon took over the more visible leadership of their ministry team? We’re not sure, but Barnabas needs to be sung again in our time even if he was somewhat minimized after Paul became more famous. Barnabas needs to be kept in remembrance for his pioneering Christian spirit, his adventuresome holiness and courageous virtue. We certainly know that in heaven, where he is absolutely not taken for granted, Barnabas is hardly an unsung hero.